Undergraduate - UnitATS2681 - Structure of English

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

Synopsis

The unit provides a step-by-step account of English grammar from the perspective of the theoretical insights of modern linguistics. It examines the most important English constructions and categories, compares the leading standard and near-standard varieties in these respects, discusses key differences of interpretation, and (briefly) relates language-specific facts and issues to language typology and universals.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit students will:

Be able to understand the key notions used in the analysis of contemporary English syntax.

Be able to understand the more important aspects of the relationship between syntax and meaning in English.

Be able to apply the notions covered in 1-2 (and to use the relevant terms accurately) in the analysis of 'real' texts, especially with the view to how information is structured in discourse.

Know the key syntactic (and syntactic-semantic) features that distinguish the main standard varieties of English from each other and from other important varieties.

Know the key syntactic (etc.) features that distinguish formal and informal usage.